Despite record wage rises, real-terms pay is still falling behind inflation, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Excluding bonuses, average pay rose by 5.7% between July and September 2022 - the fastest growth since 2000, excluding the pandemic period.

However, soaring inflation and the ongoing cost of living crisis saw real terms pay fall by 2.7%, one of the most significant falls in growth since records began in 2001.

The ONS also reported that employment rates for Q3 2022 were largely unchanged from the previous quarter at 75.5%, while unemployment decreased by 0.2% to 3.6%.

Meanwhile, the number of people neither working nor looking for work rose to 21.6% in the three months to September, driven mainly by younger groups.

Employers are scaling back recruitment for the fourth consecutive month in a row, with job vacancies falling by 46,000 from August to October 2022.

Commenting on the data, Darren Morgan, head of labour and economic statistics at the ONS, said:

"Job vacancies continue to fall back from their recent peak, with increasing numbers of employers now telling us that economic pressures are a factor in their decision to hold back on recruitment."

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